Language-based computer generated instructional material

ABSTRACT

A learning system includes a plurality of teacher and student stations for holding one or more learning sessions between a teacher and one or more students. A server serves instructional material for creating a learning environment during the learning session, and a database stores at least one of teacher and student attributes that relate to language ability. In the present invention, the instructional material is a computer generated instructional material that is produced based on the language ability of the student or the teacher.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/265,666, filed Oct. 8, 2002, which 1) is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/678,030 filed Oct. 3, 2000, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,592,379, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/275,793, filed Mar. 25, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,148,which is a continuation of PCT/US97/16672, filed Sep. 24, 1997, andclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/026,680, filed Sep. 25, 1996, 2) is a continuation-in-part ofPCT/US01/28645 filed Sep. 14, 2001, and claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/233,061, filed Sep. 14,2000, and 3) claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/328,445 filed Oct. 12, 2001, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to a learning system and method forengaging in interactive and non-interactive learning sessions and moreparticularly to a learning system and method that is implemented over anetwork, such as the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In education, various advantages of using private teachers to giveindividual attention to accommodate each student's skill, educationalgoals and background are well known. Students can excel and improveimmensely from the individual attention given. However, the costsinvolved including the cost of hiring private teachers and the cost ofperforming various tests/assessments of the student's skill, educationalgoals and background in designing individualized curriculum make theprivate teacher approach too expensive for most students.

Many conventional educational systems attempt to personalize learningsessions for students and avoid the cost of employing private tutors byusing computer programs in place of actual teachers. However, thesesystems have gone too far in automating educational processes andconsequently have been shown to be too automated and lacking thenecessary involvement by actual teachers to make the systems effective.

For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,950 issued to Cook et al. discloses asystem for interactive, adaptive and individualized computer-assistedinstruction. The system delivers interactive, adaptive, andindividualized homework to students in their homes and other locations.An agent becomes a virtual tutor acting as a student's personal andindividualized tutor. The agent is individualized to each student andformed by the functioning of agent software with student data object.The student data object stores characteristics of the student andassignments set by the teachers and administrators.

Teachers use the system to perform such functions as entering initialprofiles in student data objects, assigning students to subgroups,previewing, annotating and scheduling assignments, reviewing andcommenting on completed homework assignments, and reviewing summaryreports. Important teacher activities are as follows: the teachercontrols the access and level of tools available to the student andlimits the extent to which the student can alter agent personae; theteacher controls the student's use of the system by assigning,scheduling, and prioritizing the student's access to the instructionalmaterial; the teacher can customize material available to the studentsby modifying sequencing of instructional lessons, choosing the homeworkthe student must complete, and sending messages to students; and theteacher's class management is aided by a facility to send messages,reminders, hints, etc., to students using email facilities.

A teacher can also add comments, if student homework is viewed on lineby teacher. Email and newsgroups are used by teachers,non-interactively, to send information to their classes, such asschedule and material changes. Students can communicate with theirteachers, and share work or interests with other students.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,485 issued to Siefert discloses a computer-assistededucation where an INTELLIGENT ADMINISTRATOR, which takes the form of asystem of programs and computer objects, organizes instructionalactivity, selects the proper lessons for each session, and administersexaminations to the students. A given lesson is presented in successive,different ways, if the student does not master the lesson the firsttime. A help screen is available at any point during an instructionalunit and allows a student to change skill levels, learning styles,request another explanation, and request a conference with a teacher.When the request for a conference is selected, the student is connectedto a live videoconference with a teacher. A live conference option withsubject matter experts makes it possible for a student who has masteredthe unit but who is curious about tangential or deeper levels of thematerial to ask questions while his or her interest is still fresh.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,856 issued to Lee et al. discloses a learning systemwhere all student workstations are in constant communication with ateacher's workstation via a LAN interface and local area network.Real-time communication between a student workstation and a teacherworkstation allows the teacher to be informed of the student's progressand activities as well as allowing the teacher to tailor instructionalprograms for each student. The teacher can select material, includingtext, illustrations, length of lesson and questions to be answered, tocomprise the courseware for a subject. Assignment process is controlledby the CPU of the teacher's station which downloads the control programscorresponding to the lesson segments selected by the teacher and/or asystem program from the hard drive or other storage device of theteacher's workstation to the selected student's station.

After a predetermined number of tries, if the student still fails tograsp the material and answers some questions incorrectly, the systemwill send a message to the teacher's workstation indicating whichmaterial the student is having problems with. The teacher can then usehis or her own methods to personally help the student to grasp thematerial.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,520 issued to Hamilton discloses a computer-assistedinstruction system for a classroom which allows a teacher to share anelectronic sheet of paper with one or more students in the classroom,enabling both the teacher and a student to write on the same sheetvirtually simultaneously from different parts of the room. As a studentphysically writes on the surface of his monitor with the stylus, theimage that is written not only appears on that student's display, but isalso transmitted simultaneously to the teacher's station. When theteacher touches the screen where an icon for a student appears, theteacher and the student can begin hand-written screen-sharingcommunication.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,491 issued to Abrahamson et al. discloses a learningsystem for enabling teachers to teach students concepts and to receiveimmediate feedback regarding how well the student have learned theconcepts. Students have a keyboard system to enable them to respond in anarrative fashion to questions posed to an entire class and the teacheris able to receive the responses individually as they are stored by thesystem at a central computer. If a relatively low percentage ofstudents, as determined by the teacher, seem to be understanding theconcept being taught, the teacher may choose to assign additional workto students, or may take remedial actions.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,132 issued to Corder discloses a system for reducingilliteracy of individuals by using computer technology to integratemulti-sensory stimuli for synthesis of individualized instruction,evaluation, and prescription for advancement of communications skills.The system will accept input from the teacher to control lesson scopeand sequence and alternatively, the system itself contains decisionrules to determine student needs based on the evaluation of systemprovided graded stimuli and matching student responses. If directed bythe teacher, the system, through its speech synthesizer, encourages thestudent to use the available system resource, such as a touch screen, totrace the phonogram on the screen. If the teacher believes that astudent needs special encouragement during the lesson, a message can berecorded using the “New Messages” button.

A common feature in all of the above mentioned educational systems isthat they rely almost exclusively on just one type of the computerprogram tutoring method or the personal teacher tutoring method so thatthey do not fully realize the benefits of both methods. Further, none ofthese systems shows a computer-aided learning system for holding severalconcurrent learning sessions with students, where each learning sessionis selected by a teacher to be either an interactive learning sessionwhere the teacher interacts with the student on a shared basis or anon-interactive learning session where the student works independentlyof the teacher.

Hence, there has been a long sought desire among educators to develop acomputer-assisted educational system that allows a balanced use of boththe computer program tutoring method and the personal teacher tutoringmethod. With the on going desire to globalization, there is a desire todeliver instructional material developed in one country, for example inthe United States, internationally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, according to the present invention, a learning system includesa plurality of teacher and student stations for holding one or morelearning sessions between a teacher and one or more students. A serverserves instructional material for creating a learning environment duringthe learning session, and a database stores at least one of teacher andstudent attributes that relate to language ability. In the presentinvention, the instructional material is a computer generatedinstructional material that is produced based on the language ability ofthe student or the teacher.

According to some of the more detailed features of the presentinvention, the computer generated instructional material comprises atleast one of instructional software, an electronic textbook, a worksheet, a practice sheet, and a problem set. Also, the computer generatedinstructional material comprises a test for assessing at least one of askill gap or a lesson prescribed for addressing at least one of a skillgap.

In an exemplary embodiment, the computer generated instructionalmaterial is automatically created when a teacher and a student engage inan interactive practice session, while at least one other student isinvolved in a non-interactive learning session. The computer-generatedinstructional material can also be generated using a computer adaptiveassignment process.

According to some of the detailed features of the present invention, thedatabase comprises at least one of a central database and a distributeddatabase. Also, the database can be at least one of a public schooldatabase and a private school database. The retrieved student attributecan include at least one of skill level, grade, ethnic background, age,language, character, past record, grade in a subject, and economicbackground, and the retrieved teacher attribute can include at least oneof a skill level, a subject proficiency level, an hourly rate,geography, overtime requirement, and work schedule.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a local area network (LAN) system according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary teacher workstation display and three-studentwork station displays being shared interactively according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a web-based learning systemaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary functional block diagram of the system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary teacher screen for the system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary communications log section of an electronicteacher workbook according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary instruction section from an electronic teacherworkbook according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary screen display or page from the teacher workbookaccording to the invention showing an example of instructional materialto be sent to a student after selection from the instruction section.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary page of the electronic student workbookdisplaying the instructional material of FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary math application in an electronic teacherworkbook according to the one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary progress assessment report accessible by aparent via a parent site.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary session history accessible by a parent via aparent site.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows the simplest form of a learning system for holdinginteractive and non-interactive learning sessions according to thepresent invention by creating a suitably configured learningenvironment. The system is designed for use by a teacher and a number ofstudents over a local area network (LAN). The LAN includes a serverstation or any other type of controller 10 and client stations 1-6,which comprise teacher and student workstations. The teacher uses ateacher workstation 1, and the students use student workstations 2-5. Asused herein, instructional material include any data or software usefulin giving instructions. In an exemplary embodiment, the teacherworkstation 1 and the student workstations 2-5 are networked clientstations each with a pen-based tablet input and display. The teacher cansend selected instructional materials to each of the students over thenetwork. The teacher can also see what each student is doing on thedisplay of the teacher workstation 1 upon receipt of correspondingimages from the student workstations 2-5.

The server station 10 stores the instructional material along with otherdata in a suitably configured database (not shown). The learningenvironment within each learning session can comprise any instructionalmaterial or content, including learning workspaces in the form ofstudent or teacher workbooks, shared whiteboards, and etc. Theinstructional material or content can also include instructionalsoftware, electronic text books, work sheets, practice sheets, problemsets, and etc. A learning environment for students can also includereference tools, such as dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus,calculator, and etc.

Even though FIG. 2 discloses the server station 10, another embodimentof the present invention is a peer-to-peer network. A peer-to-peernetwork does not have a server and the teacher workstation 1 isnetworked to student workstations directly without an interveningserver. In this peer-to peer embodiment, the teacher workstation 1 is acontroller that serves instructional material directly to studentstations without help of an intervening server for serving theinstructional material. Therefore, as herein defined, the term's serverstation and controller can be used interchangeably. The learning systemof the present invention can be used for any type of learning purpose inany organization including corporations, private or public schools,learning centers, firms, churches, governments, training classes,universities, colleges, etc. The instructional material can be onvarious topics including, school subjects, university class subjects,training materials, preparation courses, graphic design classes, etc.The subject can also cover any topic, for example, industrial,healthcare, academic, finance, transportation, legal, etc.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary TEACHER DISPLAY with a display mode in whichthe teacher can interact with one or more students by using sharedwhiteboards 1-3. Even through FIG. 2 show only three student displays1-3; more student displays can be used in the present invention. Theshared white boards of the TEACHER DISPLAY are each assigned to adifferent student, as shown in FIG. 2. Each whiteboard can supportdisplaying of free-style handwriting on a tablet. At another displaymode, the TEACHER DISPLAY may display on the whole screen instructionalmaterial, which is to be assigned to students after the teacher reviewsthem.

During an interactive learning session, the teacher can assign the samequestion to multiple students at the same time and work with theminteractively on a shared basis. Via an interactive voice channel, forexample, the teacher can orally interact with selected studentsconcurrently. According to one aspect of the present invention,non-interactive sessions are held separately from interactive sessions.During non-interactive learning sessions, instructional material, whichcan be predefined, pre-designed, or canned instructional materials, ispresented to the students. As such, non-interactive learning sessions donot require teacher interactions. Therefore, the system of the inventionallows for a combination of interactive and non-interactive learningsessions to be held with a plurality of students, where a teacher canhold an interactive learning session with at least one student, whileother students engage in non-interactive learning sessions. The teachercan switch one or more students from interactive learning sessions tonon-interactive learning sessions and vice versa as the teacher sees fitto accommodate students' educational needs.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a system that implements the presentinvention. According to this embodiment, the system of the invention isimplemented over a communication network that provides wired or wirelesslinks with client stations 12 at remote locations. The client stations12 can operate as teacher workstations, student workstations, guardianworkstations, or director workstations. Preferably, standard protocolsare utilized for the client stations 12 to connect to one or more serverstations 10 (or any other type of controller). The network 16 can be anysuitably configured network, such as the Internet. The Internet is acollection of interconnected (public and/or private) networks that arelinked together by a set of standard protocols to form a global,distributed network.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 3 uses aclient-server-computing model for creating various learning environmentsduring learning sessions, where students and teachers interact with eachother. Besides the Internet, the present invention can be implementedover any other types of networks such as corporate Intranets, LANs,WANs, etc. The students and teachers can utilize any wired and wirelessdevices that act as client workstations 12 for one or more servers 10,which serve instructional material via the networks. The students,student guardians, teachers and directors may be required to go througha log-in session before engaging in learning sessions or reviewinginformation such as student grades, progress reports, and etc. Otherarrangements that do not require a log-in session can also be used inaccordance with the present invention.

Under another embodiment, each client station 12 in use by a student,guardian, teacher or director executes a network access applicationprogram, such as a browser, for accessing the learning center servers10. The system of FIG. 3 preferably uses a server-centric model thatallows a user to use applications hosted on remote server 10 on his orher client station 12. The benefit of the server-centric model is thatthe client station 12 utilizes the server's memory and processor to runapplications. This model resolves issues of limited memory and processorspeed on client stations 12. Under yet another embodiment, the studentand teacher workstations 12 can execute a locally stored learningapplication program for creating a learning environment.

The system of FIG. 3 can have either a central or distributed databasesystem 24 that stores data relating to students, teachers, guardians,instructional materials, and etc; but the data can also be storedelsewhere within any storage medium that interacts within the system.The server 10, which is connected to the database system and the clientstations over the network 16, preferably performs most of thecentralized functions of the system, including creating learningenvironments during the learning sessions, generating and delivery ofelectronic workbooks and instructional materials, as well as performingdiagnostic assessment and prescriptive learning activities. In FIG. 3,the client stations 12 can be any client device that is used by anyoneinvolved in a learning activity, including a teacher, a student, aguardian, a director, and etc. Examples of such client stations 12include personal computers, mobile computers, notebooks, workstations,and etc. The client stations 12 operate under workstation operatingsystem, e.g., Windows or Mac OS operating systems. Other examples ofsuitable client stations 12 are personal digital assistant (PDAs) orpalmtop computers that operate under an appropriately configuredoperating system, such as Palm OS or Windows CE. The client stations 12are connected via either wireless network 18 or wired physical interface23. Preferably, the client stations 12 perform real-time collection ofstudent assessment information and include visual displays for providingvisual interface with users.

The client stations 12 are also capable of communicating information inany form, including audio and video form, or in any other formconceivable by one skilled in the art. Each student workstation supportsan interactive channel for holding a learning session with a teacherworkstation. The interactive channel is a communication medium from oneclient workstation to another client station (e.g., teacher or studentworkstations). The interactive channel can be formed directly betweentwo stations or by various networks including an Internet, Intranet,LAN, WAN, and etc. Each interactive channel can support different waysof communication by transmitting information in various formats,including audio, video, picture, sound, digital characters, etc.

In wireline communication, the server 10 preferably communicates withthe wired client stations 12 through the network 16 and through networklayer interfaces 19, 21, and 23. It should be noted that the networkused in connection with the present invention can use any one of open-or proprietary-network standards, including the well-known Ethernet andTCP/IP protocols can be used.

For wireless communication, any wireless communication standards thatsupport defined protocols can be used in the present invention. Examplesof such protocols include GSM, IS-136, IS-95, Bluetooth, iDEN, Flex,ReFlex, IEEE 802.11 and etc. Under this arrangement, the server 10communicates with client station 12 via a wireless network 18, but otheravailable ways of wireless communication are also possible. Wirelessclient stations 12 can include mobile phones, Palm Pilots, and PersonalDigital Assistants 18 (PDAs). The wireless network interface 20 operatesas an interface between the wireless network 18 and the network 16. Thewireless network interface 20 primarily serves to provide domain nameresolution and serves to translate between the protocols and formats ofthe wireless network 18 and the network 16. The wireless server 22provides user accessible information through the wireless network. Thewireless server 22 can also retrieve content and information located onother servers and databases.

The databases 24, which are accessible by the server 10, can storevarious information related to learning activities in accordance withthe learning system of the present invention. As stated above, theclient stations 12 may include a personal computer, handheldcommunication devices, or any other devices capable of communicatingwith the databases 24 through the system of FIG. 3.

Various other ways, including a web-site access and an Intranet access,can allow access for teachers, directors, and students to communicateappropriate information. The teacher workstation is the launch pad tothe learning environment that initiates a timer countdown for eachlearning session. The teacher workstation can allow access to variouselectronic student binder applications to which a teacher-onlypermission is applied for displaying information about students inupcoming sessions. The teacher workstation can allow access to teacherschedule data with links to a scheduling database that stores schedulingdata. Preferably, the present invention supports numerous web-sites,including a teacher site, a director site, a student site, and aguardian or parent site. For example, the teacher can interact with ateacher site via the teacher workstation. Similarly, other participantscan use their workstations to interact with a corresponding website.

The student site can be accessible to students and may include an ageappropriate graphical screen that is displayed based on studentattribute information, after a student logs into the site from a studentworkstation. Similar to the teacher site, the student member web sitecan be a launch pad to a learning environment during a learning sessionwith a timer count down. The site also has links for educational gamesthat students can play, while waiting for the start of learningsessions. The parent site includes information on student's grades,progress reports, appointments, schedules, attendance, and etc, whichcan be accessed after an authorized parent logs in.

Referring to FIG. 4, a block diagram of operation layers used bynetworked workstations and servers in the preferred implementation ofthe present invention is shown. Both the embodiments employing a serverto facilitate interaction between various workstations and theembodiment employing the peer-to-peer network without a server can usethe operation layers in FIG. 4. The system in FIG. 4 includes studentand guardian workstations 32 as well as teacher and directorworkstations 34. The workstations 32 and 34 execute learning applicationprograms for engaging in instructional activities during learningsessions. The learning application program running on a studentworkstation 32 enables a student to interact with a teacher during anon-interactive or an interactive learning session. The learningapplication program running on the teacher workstation 34 allows ateacher to engage plural students in multiple learning sessions. Variousapplication programs for supporting the operation layers, including auser interface layer 30, collaboration layer 36, a back-end applicationlayer 38, a database layer 40, an operations layer 42 and an operationstaff layer 44 can be run by any of the server, workstations 32 andworkstations 34 or any combination of them. The user interface layer 30is responsible for presenting information to the teachers, students, andparents. The user interface layer 30 also communicates with a systemdelivery and prescription generation software within the back-endapplication layer 38, which performs assessment delivery andprescription generation functions within the learning system of theinvention. The back-end application layer 38 also manages contentdelivery, scheduling, customer relationship management (CRM), incentive,credit card processing and billing functions.

The learning system according to one aspect of the present invention cansupport an incentive-based system for improvement, participation andeffort during learning sessions as well as link to third party vendorsites for redeeming the token balances. As to the management ofincentives in the back-end application layer 38, incentive controllers(teacher stations or servers) gives the students incentives forimprovement, participation and effort during learning sessions. Forexample, a learning environment interface can deliver electronic tokensto students who satisfy defined incentive criteria for given learningsessions. When students satisfy the incentive criteria, incentivecontrollers informs the students of a defined number of tokens awardedby displaying them on student workstations. After the session closes,the number of awarded tokens are stored in databases of the incentivecontrollers for tracking purposes. For example, the number of earnedtokens can be added to a stored number already in a database.Preferably, the earned token by the students can be redeemed at theweb-site of a third party vendor, for such items as toys, books, games,software, and etc. The token balances stored in a student profile can beautomatically transferred to the third party vendor so that the dataentry by the student upon redemption is minimized.

The database layer 40 manages information storage functions related tocontent management, including curriculum, web-site (internet/intranet)content, and other knowledge base information. The database layer 40 canalso be a repository for operational data including the participants,schedules, assessment results, and student curriculum. Data warehousingfunctions and statistical analysis of the assessment and learning dataare also performed by the database layer 40. The database layer 40 alsomanages the knowledge base comprising, supplemental educational content,technical support, and customer service information.

The operations layer 42 can provide for content management workflow,including the curriculum development, editing and reviewing thedevelopment information. The operation layer 42 manages marketing andCRM (customer relationship management) workflow. This layer alsoprovides for lead/prospect follow-up functions, technical supportproblems, and product inquiries. The operation layer 42 interfaces withoperational staff layer 44 that comprises personal tech support,customer service and analyst information.

The collaboration layer 36 provides for routing of information over thenetwork for sessions and load balancing of the teacher's as well asskills matching. Also included as functions of the collaboration layer36 is collaboration for shared whiteboard and chat functions that may berequired for engaging the learning session in accordance with thepresent invention.

In relation to the skill matching function, the collaboration layer 36preferably can select teachers to teach a group of students based onteacher attributes stored in a teacher attribute database. A teacherselection controller (e.g., a server) can select a teacher based on ateacher or student attribute. For example, a teacher proficient in aparticular subject or language can be selected to teach targetedstudents that requires commensurate level of teaching proficiency orlanguage. In this way, more proficient teachers in math or reading canbe assigned to teach less proficient students in these subjects.Alternatively, French speaking teachers anywhere in the world withaccess to the Internet can be selected to teach students (e.g., inGermany, UK, or US) in French.

In relation to the load balancing, the collaboration layer 36 preferablyuses the student and teacher attributes to balance teacher utilizationloads statically or dynamically as such loads develop. For example, theteacher utilization load can also be balanced by the teacher selectioncontroller in terms of such teacher attributes as hourly rate,geography, overtime requirement, work schedule, and etc. The teacherutilization can also be balanced in terms of such student attributessuch as skill level, teacher preference, grade, ethnic background, age,language, character, past record, grade in a subject, and economicbackground. In this way, the collaboration layer 36 flexibly (eitherdynamically or statically) utilizes teacher resources by assigningteachers to students that fit a teacher load balancing requirement. Forexample, teachers in areas that do not experience teacher shortages areused in areas where there is a teacher shortage. The total number ofutilized teachers at a given time is adjusted by the server based onteacher attributes, student attributes, the total number of currentlearning sessions, and the total number of students currently inlearning sessions. The present system performs a capacity planning bydetermining how many sessions are to be held during a given time. Thesystem then determines how many teachers are currently assigned forteaching during that given time. The system uses this data to determinehow many more teachers are needed. By performing the capacity planning,the system arranges for scheduling more teachers during specific timesahead where teacher shortages are expected. Real-time assignments occurbased on teacher attributes, student attributes, and system's physicalrequirements when teachers and students log in for learning sessions ata particular time.

Through the operation layers of FIG. 4, the teacher and studentworkstations 32 and 34 can interact with each other with or without anintervening server. Various application programs for supporting theoperations layers can be run by any of the server, workstations 32 andworkstations 34 or any combination of them. The learning center server10 can execute the user interface layer 30 to interface with clientstations. As shown, the user interface layer 30 is capable of receivinginput from multiple student workstations and multiple teacherworkstations.

In one embodiment, each workstation 32 or 34 can be a personal computercapable of running software or terminals with display and input deviceswithout much processing power. As stated above, the collaboration layer36 is responsible for routing and collaborating services offered by thepresent invention. The collaboration layer 36 allows utilization ofVoice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) standards in maintaininginteractive channels for transmitting audio and video information. VOIPstandards allow use of a uniform voice to student. An interactivechannel formed of one or more networks is used for holding aninteractive session between a teacher and a student. The interactivesession allows the teacher and the student to interact with each otherthrough workbooks and a shared whiteboard during a learning session. Ashared whiteboard is a shared display space reserved by the system forconducting interactive learning activities using various tools such asinteractive highlighters, drawing and graphical tools, and etc. Thecollaboration layer 36 also supports chat, e-mail, and other Internetfeatures.

The use of a uniform voice to each student via the collaboration layer36 is advantageous in maintaining continuity between sessions and duringsessions when different teachers are utilized to teach the student. Thepresent invention can modify the real voices of the teachers so that thelearning sessions are conducted using a uniform voice, as perceived bythe student. For example, a voice of a teacher can be synthesized atclient stations and transmitted using a uniform voice based on Voiceover IP protocols. The voice conversion can occur at either the clientstations or the server. Alternatively, a text-to-speech technology canbe used during learning sessions. This technique allows transformationof texts into audio during learning sessions. Texts typed at one of ateacher station and a student station is converted to speech andtransmitted over the network in a uniform voice using the Voice over IPtechnology.

The back-end layer 38 tracks various activities and inputs of eachstudent and records student input data, either automatically through thestudent workstations 32, or manually as results of teacher inputs from ateacher workstation 34. As will be explained in detail below, theback-end application layer 38 provides for deliveries of studentinstructional materials and workbooks in accordance with anautomatically assessed student profile of each student. The back-endapplication layer 38 is also responsible for assessments and diagnosesof students to generate student profiles. The student profiles are thenused by the system to generate electronic student workbooks orinstructional materials personalized for each student. In the automatedassessments and diagnoses of students, each student receivesinstructions directly from a computer through an interactive channelformed of one or more networks.

The workstations 32 and 34 can be pen-based, equipped with an audioheadset, camera, mouse and keyboard for communicating texts, visual andaudio information with each other. In this way, for example, eachstudent takes a battery of tests at a student workstation 32. Theassessment tests are generally designed to identify student abilities toperform different tasks or a mastery of certain learning objectives orskills. The assessment tests are scored and analyzed by the back-endlayer 38 to generate a student profile which is utilized by the systemof the present invention to prescribe a learning program suited for thatstudent and deliver electronic student workbooks and learning materialsto student workstations 32. Ongoing assessments of students'performances during learning sessions are used to expand and updatestudent profiles. Results of initial and ongoing assessment tests areused in creating instructional materials comprising lessons prescribedfor addressing identified skill gaps of the student.

Once the battery of tests is completed, the system assesses the testsand provides a student profile. A director of education (DE), some othermanager or supervisor, or a teacher then preferably evaluates theprofile. Notes and comments can be entered in teacher workbooks that aregenerated based on the student profile data. Such additions to teacherworkbooks are used by instructional material controller (teacherstations or servers) in generating student workbooks or deliverinstructional materials. As stated before, instructional materialsinclude instructional software, practice sheets, electronic books, worksheets, practice sheets, problem sets, and reference tools, such asdictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, calculator, and etc.

The back-end application layer 38 is also responsible for deliveringinstructional materials to a user interface layer 30. Teacher or studentworkbooks or instructional materials are automatically generated bycomputers based on statistical analyses of one or more student profiles.Student workbooks can also be generated with teacher inputs usingstudent profile data.

The back-end application layer 38 also tracks deliveries ofinstructional materials to student workstations for charge calculationpurposes. As such, the back-end application layer 38 also performscredit card processing and billing functions, for example, on a sessionby session basis, time or other criteria.

An important feature of the present invention is that teachers andstudents can carry on learning sessions from any available networkedworkstations as long as their access rights can be verified via log-inprocesses. For example, teacher would log in at the start of a session.This establishes the rights and privileges of the teacher.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary teacher screen after logging in. The screenallows a teacher to select a certain number of students in any local orremote locations. The teacher enters student names at the teacher screenof FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the teacher has touched the name Carl Goughnourwith her pen. From that point in time, the teacher may select otherstudents at other local or remote workstations to conduct learningsessions with them.

After selecting several students in the screen of FIG. 5, the teachercan hold multiple learning sessions with the students. One or morestudents or groups of students can engage in separate non-interactivelearning sessions, while the teacher is engaged in at least oneinteractive session with another student or a group of students. Asstated before, the interactive learning session, which can be heldseparately from the non-interactive sessions, is an interactive sessionin which the teacher and one or more students interact or otherwisecollaborate on instructional material on a shared time basis. After aninteractive session, the teacher may assign other instructionalmaterials for non-interactive sessions by calling up an exercise in theteacher workbook and then forwarding the exercise or material to astudent workbook for the student to do unassisted. When a teacher is notdone with working with a student, other students could continue withnon-interactive learning sessions by using student workbooks, which canbe assigned manually by the teacher or assigned automatically by thesystem of the present invention. Upon completion of various stages oflearning sessions, student workbooks may be marked and inputsautomatically stored in the database for student profiles.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary communication log screen for a student forviewing by a teacher. The top portion of the screen, approximately top5%, is a status section. This screen displays the current student (CarlGoughnour), grade level (Grade 6.1), program (MA1), date and time (Sep.11, 1997 at 11:00 am).

The remaining portion of the screen of FIG. 6 follows the workbookmetaphor and displays a section of the electronic teacher workbook. Tabsare used on the left and right sides of a given section to switchbetween various teacher workbook sections. FIG. 6 shows tabs forCommunication Log, Goals, Instruction, and Basic Facts sections. Entrieson the right hand page of the notebook reflect the current session.Previous session information is given on the left-hand page. Currentsession information can be entered on the right-hand page by theteacher. The current session information is used to update the studentprofile. By clicking on the “Goals” tab of the teacher workbook shown inFIG. 6, the Goals and Special Notes section of the teacher workbookshown in FIG. 6 appears.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary instruction section of a teacher workbook,where skills identified from analyses of student profiles as areas to beimproved are displayed for the teacher. The ‘View’ button at the bottomof the screen in FIG. 7 allows the teacher to view a selectedinstructional material before sending it to the student's workstation.

The present system can automatically generate a number of instructionalmaterials for a student based on the student profile of the student toaddress skill gaps of the student. Appropriate instructional materialcommensurate with learning levels and attributes of a student can beautomatically created. A teacher for a particular session can view alist of available instructional material automatically generated for thesession and select the ones he or she wants to assign to the student.The teacher can assign the selected instructional material to thestudent from the teacher workstation. Alternatively, the assignment canalso be done by a computer. For example, the back-end application layer38 in conjunction with a database of a controller (server or a teacherworkstation) can create unique original lessons with teacher or computerassigned tasks for addressing particular skill gaps. The computerassigned tasks can be generated using a computer adaptive assignmentprocess that relies on retrieved student attributes and profile data.The student attributes or profile data can be retrieved from a databaseand include various student related information, such as skill levels,grades, ethnic backgrounds, ages, languages, characters, past records,scores, grades in one or more subjects, economic backgrounds, or anyother information useful in teaching students.

Existing instructional materials can be customized for each studentbased on his or her profile data stored in the system of the presentinvention. For example, based on a language identification parameter,which can be the ethnic background of a student, stored in a studentprofile database, the present invention can present instructionalmaterial for a particular subject, e.g. math, in the native language ofthe student. Using one or more of access, interface and integrationapplication layers, the system of the present invention can access otherstudent information databases, e.g., public and private school systemdatabases, to determine/retrieve student profile data and to transformthe existing instructional material commensurate with the instructionalneeds of the students. For example, ^(3rd) grade math problem setsdeveloped for English speaking students can be transformed to problemsin Spanish for Hispanic students.

In order to determine whether the system of the present invention isworking properly, accurate records are necessary. To this end, thesystem can allow for automated record keeping, storage and analysis.Records may also be kept on a global basis in order to evaluate thesystem effectiveness for a large number of students. Statisticalinformation and analysis may be kept, which is useful in evaluatingspecific instructional materials assembled in the workbooks andrelationship of the instructional materials to particular skills. It isimportant to identify which instructional materials or methods work forteaching a particular concept to students of a particular skill, aparticular age, or certain demographic or other characteristics. Thefeedback mechanism of the system of the present invention can allow forconstant improvement of the entire system. Instructional materials canbe analyzed for effectiveness at the same time that students' progressesare noted.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary teacher screen showing an automated exercisedesigned to teach basic math. From the screen of FIG. 8, the teacher hasoptions to send the materials to student workbooks by pressing “Send toStudent”, get answers from the student by pressing “Get Answers”, scorethe answers by pressing “Collect Score”, or return to the instructionsession in FIG. 7 by pressing “Return to Prey.”

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary worksheet of a student workbook which displaysthe instructional material transferred to the student from FIG. 8. Thestudent can answer the problems by handwriting on the screen. In themeantime, the teacher can concurrently work with a second student byturning to a section of the teacher workbook devoted to the secondstudent and supplying instructional materials at a grade or learninglevels appropriate to the second student as determined by the student'sprofile.

When it is time to review an exercise of the first student, the teachercan call up the work sheet from the student workbook of the firststudent to the teacher workstation 34 where it may be evaluated. Boththe student and the teacher may look at the worksheet on the sharedwhiteboard designated for the student. The teacher may call up correctanswers for comparison with the student's answers and discuss theanswers orally or in writing. The teacher can also amend the studentprofile.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary application in a teacher workbook formastering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division tables. Theteacher will select addition, subtraction, multiplication or divisionproblems, by touching the appropriate symbol on the left-hand page ofthe notebook. In FIG. 10, addition has been selected. The teacher mayalso assign particular addition problems, by touching the appropriatesquare on the right hand page in FIG. 10. For example, if the square atthe intersection of 0 and 1 is selected, the student is given theproblem “0+1=?.” Any number of problems can be assigned, but if none areassigned, then the program will assign problems randomly. During andafter each learning session, student inputs are scored/analyzed tocreate reports for parents.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary progress assessment report accessibleby a director or a parent via a parent site. The directors or parentswith access authority can access the present learning system via anynetworked customer stations to view the reports, which list/analyzestudent improvements, student performances compared to other students,actual test scores, charts showing student progresses, identified skillgaps that need further improvements, comments by teachers, recommendedreading exercises or activities for students between learning sessions,etc.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary session history accessible by adirector or a parent via a parent site. The directors or parents withaccess authority can view comments by teachers to determine how studentsperformed during previous learning sessions. For a predetermined periodof time after each learning session, teachers can enter their commentson student performances.

From the foregoing, it would be appreciated that the present inventionprovides an educational system that is cost effective by allowing ateacher to teach several students at the same time but still giveindividual attention to each student. Present invention also providesindividualized educational sessions geared for each student based on thestudent's skill, educational goals and background without having toincur the cost of employing a dedicated teacher for the student andmanual tests/assessments of the student's skill, educational goals andbackground.

While the invention has been described with reference to severalparticular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able tomake the various modifications to the described embodiments of theinvention without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A learning system, comprising: a plurality ofteacher stations and a plurality of student stations for holding one ormore interactive learning sessions on a subject between a teacher of aplurality of teachers and at least two students, wherein the teacher andthe at least two of the students interact with each other usingfree-style handwriting via a shared electronic white board of at leastone of the plurality of teacher stations and at least two of theplurality of student stations; a database that stores at least oneteacher attribute and at least one student attribute that relate to alanguage ability and a subject proficiency for the subject; and a serverin communication with the database that: (i) serves computer generatedinstructional material relating to the subject to the at least twostudents through the at least two student stations, the computergenerated instructional material for creating an interactive learningenvironment during the one or more interactive learning sessions, andwherein the computer generated instructional material is customized forthe at least two students based on the language ability of each of theat least two students as determined by the server through each of the atleast two student's respective student attributes stored in thedatabase; and (ii) after serving the computer generated instructionalmaterial to the at least two students, selects the teacher from theplurality of teachers for the at least two students based on thelanguage ability and the subject proficiency of each of the respectiveplurality of teachers teacher attributes stored in the database, whereinthe teacher teaches the subject to the at least two students during theone or more interactive learning sessions in a language determined basedon the language ability,